Excerpts from Barcelona - 11
A weekly glimpse into my Catalan adventures
This week felt pretty exciting. The weather was beautiful and sunny which motivated me to get out, walk around, and do more!
The weekend started off with a spontaneous meetup in Ciutat Vella at Cala del Vermut. Funny enough, I had just been thinking that I should probably try vermouth in Spain, seeing as it is everywhere, and this tapas bar ended up being the closest-slash-highest-rated place! And, of course, some croquetas de pollo to accompany our drinks!
Sunday was probably one of my favourite days in Barcelona, so far. The morning started off with the Cursa El Corte Inglés, a 10km race throughout the city. The race was free to join with a capacity of 40,000 participants and it was SOLD OUT! It was also my highlight of the week so you can read more about that below.
I spent the rest of my Sunday at the Design Museum of Barcelona. Entry was free since it was a Sunday afternoon. The museum was divided into three main sections, one focusing on graphic design, another on material design, and the last on fashion design.
Naturally, I also had to take advantage of my Traveler’s Notebook and ever-expanding coffee diary this week. I visited SIP COFFEE ROASTERS and Flying Monkey.
I really enjoyed my experience at SIP (first and second picture), where I ordered a cortado and batch brew. Despite the service being incredibly long at Flying Monkey (which I’m imagining explains their not-so-great Google rating) the coffee was actually really good, and even though I waited an abnormally long time for my order, the location, terrace, and quality of the coffee kind of made up for it, so I could see myself going back.
Highlights of the week
Cursa El Corte Inglés
This race really surprised me! First off, a turnout of approximately 45 thousand people is insane. Second of all, the level of organization for a race that was entirely free is super impressive to me. The music, the crowds, the cheering! And, of course, the fact that I set a pretty nice PB made it a very memorable day.
A glimpse at next week…
Now that the 10km race is over, I plan to go back to some trail running in Vallvidreda! The trails are so easily accessible by train and there are so many to choose from. The only tricky thing now will be finding the right time to go, since it’s getting increasingly warmer!
A few coffee shops on my list for this week include Departure Coffee Co. and Morrow Coffee.
I think summer has officially arrived in Barcelona, and with that, it feels like time is passing so much faster! It always feels like there’s something to do, sometimes too many things to choose from, so I can’t wait to see what community events and social gatherings this hot weather brings.